Arizona, Ole Miss, Miss St, TCU back in spotlight

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2014, file photo, Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott (15) celebrates his 56-yard touchdown run with wide receiver De'Runnya Wilson (1) in the second half of an NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La. No. 3 Mississippi State, No. 9 TCU, No. 10 Arizona and No. 22 Georgia Tech are all unbeaten after starting the season unranked. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2014, file photo, Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott (15) celebrates his 56-yard touchdown run with wide receiver De'Runnya Wilson (1) in the second half of an NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La. No. 3 Mississippi State, No. 9 TCU, No. 10 Arizona and No. 22 Georgia Tech are all unbeaten after starting the season unranked. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

By Associated Press October 8, 2014 5 min read

Last week, Arizona, Mississippi, Mississippi State and TCU gave the AP Top 25 an extreme makeover with huge victories. This week, the Wildcats, Rebels, Bulldogs and Horned Frogs try to validate all that attention and prove they are more than October shooting stars.

The Wildcats set a record for the largest leap into the Top 25, going from unranked to No. 10 after starting last week’s madness by upsetting Oregon. Coach Rich Rodriguez’s team comes home Saturday to face Pac-12 South rival Southern California, which is coming off a brutal last-second loss.

Having a couple of extra days off wasn’t a bad thing for the Wildcats.

“They had to come back down to earth mentally,” Rodriguez said.

The Mississippi schools share the No. 3 ranking and now face what in many ways are tougher tasks than last week. The Bulldogs get ESPN “College GameDay” in their town as No. 2 Auburn comes to Starkville.